Historic victory for Slovakian; mixed day for Canadians

Slovakia's Anastazia Kuzmina prepares to shoot during the women's 7.5 km sprint biathlon final at the Vancover 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, British Colombia, February 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth)

WHISTLER — Expect the unexpected.

That pre-race promise played out in the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint to open the Winter Olympics biathlon competition Saturday at Whistler Olympic Park.

Not only did Anastazia Kuzmina of Slovakia make history by capturing her country’s first Olympic gold medal in edging Magdalena Neuner of Germany and Marie Dorin of France in a time of 19 minutes 55.6 seconds, there was plenty of Canadian drama before 4,266 fans.

Olympic rookies Megan Tandy of Prince George, B.C. and Rosanna Crawford of Canmore, Alta., went 10-for-10 in the shooting aspect of the dual discipline to place 46th and 72nd respectively in the field of 88 competitors to prove that the team’s young guns are on target.

However, team veteran Zina Kocher of Red Deer, Alta., was reduced to tears in explaining how she missed three targets and sank to a sour 65th-place showing, just when it appeared she was on the cusp of challenging for the podium.

Welcome to biathlon. Expect the unexpected when nerves, slushy snow conditions requiring fertilizer to harden the course and Olympic pressure push competitors to great highs or incredible lows. Megan Imrie of Falcon Lake, Man., also missed three targets and placed 76th.

For Kuzmina, missing a target in the prone position was expected to cost her gold, especially with Neuner pressing after missing one of five targets in the standing position. With a 150-metre penalty lap imposed for each miss, the German nearly caught Kuzmina, who won by 1.5 seconds.

“It’s a big surprise,” said Kuzmina, who entered the Games ranked 28th in World Cup standings and was coming off a serious hand injury. “I was absolutely sure that Magadelna would be here on the (top of the) podium, but I never look behind me. I never pay attention to the leaderboard.”

Neuner is sixth in World Cup standings and said her shot at gold against the “unknown” Slovak came from exhaustion and one crucial misfire.

“I lost strength in the last leg (loop) and I made a mistake in the shooting,” said the first-time Olympian. “I was nervous but gave it everything I had.”

Tandy was a picture of calm on the shooting range, the direct opposition of Kocher.

“Shooting under pressure is one of my major strengths," said Tandy, 21, who finished in 22:07.7 “Somehow, I rise to pressure and maintain the focus. My mental plan worked perfectly and I didn’t have to calm myself. I looked at the target and thought about it and didn’t think about my teammates or coach or parents in the crowd.”

Crawford, 21, has endured a myriad of injuries, and just getting to these Games was an accomplishment. She had a racing heartbeat that required a procedure and also battled hip and lower-back ailments in the last two years.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to stand on that start line today,” she after finishing in 23:04.6. “It’s something I had really written off for myself and just to be here and accomplish this I’m really proud of myself. I’m a really good shot. And if I can keep my head in the game, it goes naturally for me."

Kocher, 27, couldn’t get her head in the game Saturday. Only a day earlier, she talked of pushing for the podium, but had to push away tears of disappointment as her shooting inconsistency came back to haunt her. When Kocher missed her last of five shots in the standing position, she unravelled.

“It’s a slip of many things that can go wrong, whether it’s your mind for a quarter of a second or an itchy trigger finger,” she said of finishing in 22:35.8. “I couldn’t keep it together today.”

Canadian coach Geret Coyne was at a loss to explain Kocher’s collapse. The team had worked at getting to shooting positions quicker and getting shots off faster while remaining calm. Tandy and Crawford did that Saturday. Kocher and Imrie didn’t.

“That’s a pretty big disappointment from where I thought she (Kocher) was going in to today,” said Coyne. "It looked like maybe some nerves there and stress. The shooting speed was not normal. Very slow. It’s an indication of the processing time in the head not being normal and that’s a death knell for shooting."

Imrie, 24, was cheered by family with cowbells and finished in 23:17.0.

“In the standing (position), my legs were shaking like leafs,” said Imrie. “It was a struggle.”

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